Who each one is for
- SideShift suits teams that want to run a creator program in house, often with many creators posting on their own accounts. The subscription covers the software; you fund creator pay and ad spend separately, and a managed tier is available for larger budgets.
- Ad Army suits brands and agencies that want edited video ads delivered without managing creators, contracts or payouts, and want to know the price of each video up front.
Ad Army vs SideShift at a glance
| Item | Ad Army | SideShift |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Flat price per approved video: 15s $125, 30s $175, 60s plus raw $260 | Software subscription; creator pay, ad spend and managed services are separate |
| 10 x 30s videos, from published prices | $1,750 (10 x $175) | Not published |
| Fees on sales or ad spend | None: 0% of sales or ad spend | None stated on sales or ad spend; payment-processing charges may apply to funding and payouts |
| Subscription | None | Yes: $299, $499 or $999 a month, lower with annual billing; 14-day trial on monthly plans |
| Usage rights and duration | Full rights for organic, ads and any placement, no expiry | Organic and paid rights in every contract; default license is perpetual and non-exclusive unless narrowed |
| Whitelisting or Spark Ads | +$50 per video, only if the creator agrees | Included in the default license: whitelisting, Spark Ads and Meta partnership ads |
| Who picks creators | Ad Army casts from its vetted roster; creators stay anonymous to you | You review applications and choose, or search and invite creators |
| Revisions | Until you approve | Set per campaign in each creator agreement |
| Turnaround (as published) | You set the due date, from 10 days out | Deadlines set per campaign; 5 days to review each deliverable by default |
| Attribution and reporting | Last-click attribution per video, with hook rate, hold rate and ROAS | Views, CPM, ROAS and revenue per creator; attribution sync with App Store Connect and Stripe |
| Managed or self-serve | Fully managed | Self-serve plans, plus a managed option from a $20,000 a month campaign budget |
SideShift details come from its own SideShift pricing, Creator marketplace and Terms of service pages, as of October 14, 2026. "Not published" means we could not find it stated there. Ad Army details come from our pricing page, content rights page and attribution page.
Pricing and total cost
SideShift publishes its software plans: Starter at $299 a month, Growth at $499 and Scale at $999, or $210, $349 and $699 a month with annual billing. Monthly plans come with a 14-day free trial. SideShift is clear that the subscription covers the software only: creator payments, paid ad spend and its Managed service are separate. Its Starter plan recommends $2,000 to $5,000 a month in creator spend, and Managed starts at a $20,000 a month campaign budget.
Because you set creator pay per campaign, there is no published cost for ten 30 second videos. At Ad Army, ten 30 second edits cost $1,750, all in, with no subscription. Our breakdown of flat fees vs commission on sales helps when you compare a per-video price with a program budget.
Who picks the creators
On SideShift, creators apply to your briefs and you review their applications and samples before choosing, or you search and invite them. SideShift handles contracts, payouts and tax forms in the software, and says nobody gets paid until you approve the work.
On Ad Army, you don't pick creators. We cast from our vetted roster, and creators stay anonymous to you, so you can't build a direct relationship with a specific creator. If owning those relationships is the point of your program, SideShift is closer to what you want.
Rights, whitelisting and reporting
SideShift writes organic and paid usage rights into every creator contract. Its terms set a default license that is worldwide, perpetual and non-exclusive, and that includes whitelisting, TikTok Spark Ads and Meta partnership ads, unless a campaign agreement narrows it. Ad Army includes full content rights for organic, ads and any placement on every video, and creator-handle ads cost $50 per video, only if the creator agrees.
Reporting is a strength for SideShift: it tracks views, CPM, ROAS and revenue per creator across platforms, with attribution sync for App Store Connect and Stripe. Ad Army reports per video instead, with a tracking code on every approved video and last-click attribution with hook rate, hold rate and ROAS.
When SideShift is the better choice
- You want creators posting on their own accounts as an ongoing program, not only ads you run
- You want to choose creators, set their pay and own the relationships
- You sell an app and want attribution synced from App Store Connect or Stripe
- You have a team to run briefs, approvals and payouts in software
When Ad Army is the better choice
- You want a known price per video instead of a subscription plus creator budget
- You don't have time to run applications, contracts and payouts
- You want edited ad cuts with hooks, captions and music, with revisions until approved
- You want results reported per video rather than per creator
About this comparison
This comparison uses public information from each company's own website as of October 14, 2026; prices and terms change, so check the linked pages before you buy. SideShift is a trademark of its owner. Ad Army is not affiliated with or endorsed by it. Spot something out of date? Email support@adarmy.app and we will correct it.
See how others compare in Ad Army vs Trybe, Ad Army vs Billo and the UGC platforms roundup.
